al-Gāya as a Hanafi Work on Hadith
Authentication and Seruci’s Approach to Hadith
The book consists of an introduction, five chapters, and a conclusion.
The first chapter focuses on Serûcî’s life, with particular emphasis on
his training in hadith studies. Although Serûcî is not identified as an independent
hadith scholar in classical biographical and historical sources,
his method of drawing inferences from hadiths, his work on hadith
takhrīj, and his evaluations of narrations demonstrate his engagement
with the science of hadith. This raises the question of in which scholarly
circles and through what educational process Serûcî might have
acquired this body of hadith knowledge. The status of al-Hidāya, the
source of al-Gāya, within the Hanafi school has been examined, particularly
in the context of hadith authentication. In this context, the authority
of al-Hidāya among the Hanafis and the content of the hadiths
included in the work have been evaluated. In addition, the book brings
together analyses of traditions and reports found in various places and
examines them within a comprehensive framework. The aim is to provide
a concrete analysis of Serûcî’s approach to hadith in al-Gāya. To
this end, the study first offers a general overview of the use of hadith in
al-Gāya, followed by a more detailed examination of Serûcî’s treatment
of the hadith text and its isnad.
Finally, Serûcî’s approach to hadith scholarship and his understanding
of takhrīj have been examined in comparison with various jurists and
hadith scholars. To ensure the comparison is meaningful and illuminating,
comparisons have been made both within the Hanafi tradition
and outside of it, involving Serûcî’s contemporaries as well as a later
Hanafi hadith scholar. In this regard, the comparison is addressed on
a multidimensional plane, encompassing both horizontal (among contemporaries)
and vertical (precedent–successor) dimensions.
Keywords: al-Ḥadīth; Fiqh; al-Ḥanafī; Takhrīj; Serûcî